Earn My Trust
by LordryuTJ
Summary: [pre-KOF 2003] It has been years since Ash and Elisabeth were last together, and to the both of them, it could possibly even years longer before they could manage to get on the same page. With the upcoming tournament, Ash is willing to negotiate and earn his friend's trust in whatever way possible as a mission lies ahead.
1. Chapter 1

**Projection of timeline:** Somewhere just prior to KOF 2003 – basically, before Ash started advancing his 'Sacred Treasure' hunt. A little bit of personal head-canon put into this as well, although I wouldn't say it specifically went like _this_.

* * *

2003\. An interesting time to be a fighter in a world where the King of Fighters tournament was popularized worldwide – ten years since the tournament started becoming an annual event for the modern generation to enjoy. However, with the span the tournament had managed thus far, the arrival of new blood was especially guaranteed on this year.

Ash Crimson was perhaps the most enigmatic of the hopefuls who wanted to make their debut – there was not much to gather from about the young man besides that he expected all eyes to be on him by tourney's end, whether he would win the tournament or not. However, there was not much he had when it came to setting his goals and accomplishing them – he hadn't yet received any sort of official invitation from the sponsor, nor did he have any partners yet to enlist...

...at least, no one outside of _one_ potential candidate who may be willing to help him out...

* * *

"I didn't think you would want my help..."

"This isn't a matter of friendship, Ash – this is strictly business."

The cold, judging stare of Elisabeth Blanctorche against her childhood friend was one to behold. To say that there was a slightly uncomfortable aura whenever Ash and Elisabeth were within feet of each other's presence nowadays was simply an understatement. It had been close to a decade since they were last considered 'best friends' to each other.

For lack of a better statement, things change – for better or for worse. Not necessarily the case of the former here...

In terms of the discussion brought between them on this day, the topic was, as was practically commonplace with the 'King of Fighters' legacy over the past decade, a supernatural conspiracy lying underneath the foundation of the tournament.

"'Those From His Distant Land'," as Elisabeth called them. "Another rising threat in the list of the scum trying to rise to the surface..."

Ash was only partially at attention of what the lady was discussing – his eyes often lingered towards the invitation envelope sitting at the side of the table, the only object of notice on the table aside from the mugs of tea between them.

The middle point of the discussion was heard on Ash's part as practically static, but he managed to zone in a little as Elisabeth continued, "...My father knew he had to push back the devils back then, and now it's up to me to uphold the family name. You understand how much it all lies on me, right?"

"You don't seem the type to be counting on me," Ash replied. "It's almost like you didn't _need_ me for all of this."

"I didn't want to go about this on my own – it's been far too lonely after..." Through Elisabeth's head came the brief tinge of past memories she would rather like to forget. "...and you... you don't know all that much about _your_ family's past, do you?"

Ash scoffed. "I'm my own man, Betty. It's not that I don't know the past – it's that I'd rather make a future for myself."

Elisabeth's glare grew slightly bitter under that little petty nickname. "You're certainly not the kid I remember you as, all those years ago. I don't mean that as a compliment."

Ash sniffed, indifferent to the statement. "Does it matter? We're in this together no matter what."

"Against my better judgment." Elisabeth had a couple fingers pressed lightly upon her envelope as she discussed. "In terms of the mission, it's up to me to lead a team into the upcoming tournament to scope out the threat and, along the way, figure out if the sponsor has a mind to further worsen the situation. I understand how you've been handling your powers, and I count on you to be my backup in case everything takes a turn for the worse."

"Backup? Sooo..."

"If something happens to me – in short, it'd all be up to you

Ash reclined about as much as his seat could allow. "Hmm... just one, really."

"And that is?" Within her line of sight, Elisabeth recognized a hand of his reaching out and resting against the other side of the envelope.

His question: "Do you not trust me enough?"

Elisabeth's eyes fully met the envelope that she was unintentionally sharing her space with. She didn't intend to respond with words about what was going through her head about what her 'friend' asked of her.

The piercing silence he received from her only allowed Ash to explain himself. "...Come on – no need to be afraid of what you want to admit. You say you understand my strengths, but really you think my flames will get in the way, just like they have in the past when I was... _less_ than optimal with what I had."

Elisabeth's fingers started to step away from the envelope, and her mind began to wrap around a cluster of emotions towards her red-clad partner. "Ash, what're you—"

Ash interjected, "Just trying to set things straight between us, _cherie_ – and this whole deal you've been trying to put together. Clearly you're afraid something may happen of me if I go in too deep. Either that, or maybe you're afraid of the possibility that **you won't get the job done.** "

The noblewoman stuttered frustratedly, as if her pride was starting to ache from those words. "Ash, just—tell me... what could you possibly want from me?"

Ash's eyes again lingered on the invitation between him and Betty. "You've got what I need – and that's simply to get into the tournament. As your partner, as part of my own team, however possible. I can guarantee you that what I got in the palm of my hand, you need... and all I need to know is just how much faith you _truly_ have in me." He took a relaxed recline against his seat again. "The floor is yours, Betty. Make of it what you will – I just need you to be honest."

The noblewoman's eyes stared down the drink laid beneath her for a few moments, feeling like an hour's worth of thinking about those words even though it was closer to a single minute. It certainly felt like the type of decision that needed to come from the heart, not the mind, especially towards someone she's known for quite some time. Although... between this mission, the fire from so long ago, and the factor of the two having long been away from the other's lives, the demands Ash put before her really suggested that honesty be the best policy.

She finally glared up at her childhood friend, who eagerly awaited with a grin reeking of just a bit too much self confidence.

"Ash... in the risk of sounding brutal in the honesty you want from me... I'll admit it, I _don't_ trust you enough... but it's not entirely based on bias of our past..."

She stood up. The table was moved aside with a swift push off, the envelope was kept out of harms way within her hand...

...and the tip of her riding crop met the chin of Ash. "...but because I think _you_ wouldn't get the job done," Elisabeth said.

It didn't take long for the feminine Frenchman to realize what exactly was intending from how Betty handled the little whip against him – and from the smile that grew upon his face, he was _very_ interested to see everything heading in this direction. "Well-well – if you wanted to test me personally, why didn't you say so?"

Elisabeth's tone was stern and direct at this point, as she retracted the crop from against Ash's face and handled it back handed in his fighting stance. "You brought it on yourself. Are you truly prepared to defend your words?"

Ash chuckled as he brushed through the eye-hiding sliver of his blonde hair with a smile of anticipation. "Oh please; this is how I prefer to negotiate."

With no warning, this test via combat started with Ash springing forward with a handspring, culminating in an axe kick with intent to swipe it down across the opponent's face. Naturally, with the type of start-up that maneuver carried, Elisabeth telegraphed it with moderate ease, catching Ash's leg atop her shoulder and then batting it away with a swipe of her hand that also managed to graze across his face with the back of that hand.

After the very first move of the bout, Ash was left a little off-guard, and nearly off-balance as well, as he glanced up to Betty; as she provoked him with a beckoning finger, he charged back in with an elbow that she dodged, and for the next couple of moments, Ash couldn't seem to find a way to get in a good strike on the noblewoman, as she blocked away each and every punch he threw her way with a single arm. At the end of the barrage of failed blows, Ash's arm was caught on the final strike, as Elisabeth swung the crop around to smack him across the back, and then brought him straight to the floor with an arm-wringing flip.

This was the very first time that the young Crimson did battle with his elder friend, and it was turning out in the wrong direction of how he expected it.

Putting a heel upon Ash's chest, Elisabeth looked down at him. "You're not a great negotiator."

Ash wasn't too pleased to hear his words put against him like that, but he didn't want it to show on his face. Smiling briefly, he seemed to blow a kiss – a kiss composed of an emerald flame that made Elisabeth reel back to evade, in turn getting her foot off of him.

Seeing the brief spark of panic on Elisabeth's face when she dodged the spurt of fire got a little bit of a chuckle out of him. "Two for flinching," he said, right before striking very low with two jabbing kicks to the leg that managed to humble Elisabeth onto one knee. Knowing the very brief opening for further assault and taking up on it, Ash latched his legs around one of Elisabeth's arms and brought her fully down on her back for a little bit of ground-based action.

It wasn't long, however, before Elisabeth managed to take control again, kipping up and twisting the situation around – although Ash managed to flip around onto his feet to regain his composure rather quickly, he had a failing effort to a jumping kick as Elisabeth ducked it, jabbed the back end of her crop into his side and then brought him further pain with a kick from below, right up his jaw. Another arm-wrangling takedown laid Ash flat on his back again, putting him right at square one again – with the bonus of feeling like he fell jaw-first onto a rail or something.

At this point, it was smart to try and find a big opening in order to get an advantage. Combined with this being his first legitimate battle with Elisabeth, it meant that advantage was probably going to be _real_ difficult to find. Anything to prove himself, really.

He flung himself back to his feet with a nip-up, only to suddenly meet a blinding light in his face, a clear but unexpected presentation of Elisabeth's gift of Ictiokinesis; wasn't quite as apparent back then as it was at this point, and Ash had only gotten word-of-mouth about that power prior to this meeting. Regardless of knowledge, the flash of white across his face left him blind for a few seconds, and as he unthinkingly flung a line of flame around, Elisabeth evaded around the green fire that spun by and clutched onto Ash with her arm wrapping around the back of his neck.

Ash grunted in irritation as his sight managed to sort itself out from the light it received, "Not quite as fun as I thought it was going to be."

Elisabeth said, "You're trying to find _fun_ in this? Like I said, this was all meant to be business between us."

"Let's change that." With that, Ash flipped backwards, and as the green flames trailed his foot, he managed to smack Elisabeth atop the back of her head with a flipping heel. She was left dizzied for a couple seconds, allowing Ash to boot her in the back to bring her down. To him, as he continued to sporadically think about how he could go about in the upcoming tournament, it felt like the right time to start putting some mind-games into play.

Elisabeth didn't realize it until she got away from her groggy state, but she found herself without her crop, and it quickly became clear why.

"Looking for something, Betty?" Ash stood in front with the riding crop in hand, and lightly brushed Elisabeth on the chin with the tip of it.

Naturally, Elisabeth immediately went to grab at it, not quite amused with the toying around at her expense; it only managed to trigger a brief tug-of-war between the two, though, as they struggled against each other for a moment longer.

"Shoot through!" Elisabeth ultimately retaliated with a palm against Ash's chest, charged with holy light that amplified the pushing power and forced him off, leaving her back with her weapon. The blazing Frenchman tumbled across the room, almost sliding on the floor as he finally took a formation on the ground.

Just when Ash thought he was going to get a decent advantage, it was taken away from him immediately. Surely seemed like a problem that someone in this situation would want to work on prior to an upcoming tournament, but he felt too confident to consider that. Just simply fighting through the tournament would probably help out, but it all depended on the minx with the riding crop.

"You're not impressing me." Elisabeth's crop helped in lifting Ash up onto his knees as she looked down on him with a mix of disappointment and an inner feeling of having proven herself right. "Maybe you should reconsider how you carry yourself."

The lone Blanctorche expected a retaliation of some sort from her opponent – although she didn't exactly expect Ash to get a chuckle out of a situation like the disadvantage he found himself in.

Elisabeth came a little closer, meeting her face inches away from his. "And _what_ exactly do you find funny about all this?"

Ash calmed his laughter. "It's nothing – it's just... you should _really_ focus on what matters most."

Suddenly, his hands swung forward towards her chest, and with a motion akin to ripping something in half, Ash managed to suddenly throw Elisabeth off-course with a swiping double-hand strike, fueled by his bright green flames, that sent the noblewoman back a sizable distance. The flames and smoke from the considerably heavy blast separated the two from each other's line of sight, leaving one unable to see the other for a moment.

When everything cleared, Ash saw a somewhat disoriented Elisabeth trying to regain her fighter's composure. That wasn't _everything_ that he noticed, however, and what else that struck as noticeable was on Elisabeth's person.

Mainly, her jacket. Or the significant amount that remained outside of the clear burn/tear that left her ascot mostly vanquished, and a good portion of her chest exposed, outside of the top part of the corset underneath, which itself didn't cover a lot of her sizable breasts.

She didn't even notice at first, but the realization did start once she noticed Ash trying (and failing) to hide his smug expression towards her.

He said, "No need to look at me, Betty – you might want to worry about yourself for now."

It was _then_ that Elisabeth noticed the exposure of her generously-sized bust from the where the flames hit her most, and she attempted to shield her pride.

Ash then commented again after a moment to chuckle at Betty's expense, "Although I must admit, it seems like an improvement to the look. You certainly have the goods to pull it off."

Elisabeth was _far_ from amused with that kind of comment thrown her way – her face was growing red, although it was hard to tell if from embarrassment or fury. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?!"

Ash twirled a finger through his hair nonchalantly, "Maybe, maybe not; I wouldn't say I'd be truly proud of being just a little perverted – if anything, I managed to surprise you, didn't I?"

His eyes closed briefly as he gathered in another laugh for one more moment... only to open them in time to see Elisabeth suddenly up in his face, bringing a hand against his mouth and shoving him against a wall.

Elisabeth kept Ash against the wall with a high-heeled boot pressed against his stomach. "Something changed within you in the time we were separated."

Ash responded, oozing self-confidence. "I grew up, had more time to think about my life, and..." his glare slightly lowered towards Betty's chest. "Well... you should know how boys can be sometimes when they're older."

Elisabeth's boot pressed slightly harder against Ash's gut. "And what exactly do you think you're accomplishing with all this?"

Ash brought his hand atop Elisabeth's pale blue hair. "Mind games, Betty." His other arm, out of either side's sight, latched around the lifted leg of Elisabeth, and then pushed forward.

The momentum of the push caught Elisabeth beneath her expectations, and brought her onto the ground, where Ash kept a position on top of her with a knee brought down and pressing against her crotch – of all places to kneel on...

Ash explained his odd combative theorem, "You and I, we both haven't had our shot at the big time with the King of Fighters tournament, but I've at least figured out that more often than not, it takes more than pure strength and a pretty light-show to get past the first round."

Elisabeth emitted a brief grunt that, while showing clear frustration, had a slight undertone of pained pleasure – unsurprising given the kneecap of the other grinding against her. She afterwards managed to turn over the position, bringing herself on top of him, complete with _her_ knee driving directly into Ash's nethers with enough force to earn gritted teeth through his pained expression.

"You haven't figured out _anything_ until you actually fight in the tournament," she stated what only she considered fact in this matter, "and you sure as hell don't deserve the chance. Not yet, at least."

"I really don't want to have to fight you all day to get what I want," said Ash. "But if I have to, I don't think I'll be complaining all that much."

"You've grown to be a delinquent."

"And you've grown to be a tease."

The positioning of the two shuffled and evolved further, until they were both sitting up – their legs intertwined and their faces wound up even closer than before. Two sets of eyes met, sharing a similar palette of blue between them. It almost felt like time slowed to a turtle's pace as they locked eyes, simultaneously sharing a bit of blush-tone red across both their faces as the tension soured, almost as if it was starting to form into... something else...

Elisabeth chose first to get up first, sighing in frustration while leaving Ash to flop back onto the floor with a slight feeling of annoyance on his own.

"Disgusting," the prideful woman commented, as she brushed off the flakes of burnt clothing on her chest. The exposed flesh revealed from what was destroyed on her person wasn't quite her vision, and Ash's attitude around it certainly felt like insult to injury... but she was thinking of letting that slide for now, as something else was on the side.

"Get up." Her riding crop nudged Ash, a little provocation to make him at least stop retaining the lazy position on the floor. He complied with little hesitation, feeling like he was going to expect a little more lecturing of some sort from his cohort, and there wasn't really any walking away, especially if he wound up empty-handed in the end.

Elisabeth's demands became clear as she met eyes with "I had my time to be honest – I feel now's your turn."

Ash sighed with feigned defeat. "I guess I _can_ admit I'm desperate for a chance in that tournament – it's not like you figured it out already..."

"Not what I meant, Ash," The Frenchwoman replied. "There's something else that started brewing within you as we were fighting, and... I don't want to explicitly say it, but not all of your feelings seem to be locked into your head."

Ash's lingering enthusiasm started to wain, as did a little bit of his patience. "Okay, you're losing me – what are you trying to say?"

" _Look down._ "

A clear choice of two words from the noblewoman towards her potential partner, as Ash seemed half-willing to comply, the other half of his thoughts still a little bit puzzled about in his head about Elisabeth's meaning of 'honesty' towards him. Things started to hit him with a metaphorical hammer of awkwardness once he actually looked down, and he immediately turned away from Betty with his own bit of apparent shame.

Elisabeth simply suggested, "You really should consider some looser clothing."

Certainly a way to pour fuel into the flame of Crimson's predicament – which felt far from his usual green pyrokinetic gift and closer to a reddish-pink that matched the bloom of color across his cheeks as he glanced partway with an expression of irritation. It seemed like a lot was on his mind...

By this point, Elisabeth started to approach closer, slowly and patiently. "Don't make me wait for too long, Ash. If you're not going to admit it yourself..." She turned him around to look him straight in the eyes one more time. "...I might have to force you to face that truth, no matter how... unbecoming it may be between us."

Ash's expression was very much in the valley of 'mixed', especially as he felt the collar of shirt clutched tightly within Elisabeth's grasp. He wasn't going to be in control of where he was going for the time being, and once he began to understand the assertive scowl on Elisabeth's face, he didn't know whether to anticipate or to fear what was coming next.

Frankly, it was easier to feel both ways about it...

* * *

 **This was absolutely going to be a one-shot at first (albeit a fairly long one, around 5K words at least), but with how I've been shifting around ideas for this story, and how dense the word count has gotten for this one alone, I decided to split it a bit, leave you guys wanting a little bit more while allowing me a bit of time to sort out what comes next... although admittedly, given the rating of the story, it's not hard to figure out what could come next.**

 **All else I can say is simply 'stay tuned'.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Before going ahead with the chapter, I wanted to mention that this went through a full rewrite 'cause my first go at the scene you're about to read just didn't sit right with me, to say the least.**

* * *

When the meeting was initially arranged between the two, it seemed like a simple cut-and-dried agreement to something towards a greater good – however, with the trust issues that Ash initially brought to the table, the trial by combat that Elisabeth demanded between the two... the battle damage caused... the pride left hanging by the thread... it went in what felt like a completely different direction.

Whatever Elisabeth had planned to counterpoise the awkward situation that started sparking once the fight stopped, it meant a change of scenery – out of the dining room and into the bedroom ( _one that was initially her parents' before circumstances led to it becoming hers_ )

Ash rubbed away the light dull pain in his neck, an effect of having dragged him up to this room by the collar of his undershirt the whole way through. Outside of that, he kinda lingered awkwardly to the side of the door as Elisabeth locked it to seal their privacy – he wasn't willing to risk getting any more of a whipping from her trying to get away, especially if he got out of this with nothing important accomplished as a result.

Seemed like Elisabeth was fairly reluctant about this – she kept her eyes on the door for perhaps too long before she began to speak. "Ash… don't take this as even a sliver of an idea that there's something more between us than we've already considered. You have frustrations, and they need to be alleviated."

Her eyes finally lingered towards Ash's, and the riding crop that remained in her hand pointed west from his line of sight, towards the bed. "Sit down."

Ash complied as directed, and found a fairly relaxing position on the bed. Again – too much risk for him to disobey at this point, lest he frustrate her even further. He glanced up to the ceiling, at the simple-looking, decorative lights shining above. "Whatever you're considering, I'm... incredibly intrigued, I must admit. ...This isn't going to get _weird_ between us, is it?

Elisabeth was looking into the drawers across from the bed at this point. "Depends on what's considered weird in your mind. I have a feeling it's much different than what _I_ would consider."

continued to sit patiently, looking down with his hands resting together by his knees, as if he was waiting for some sort of appointment. Everything seemed calm and fairly quiet at this point, admittedly, but it started to change, specifically at the moment where he saw something come into his sight and clink around his wrists: a pair of hand...cuffs...?

What the hell?

"... _What the hell_?" Ash's intrigue completely skyrocketed rather quickly, although it was mixed with a bit of utter confusion over the fact that a noblewoman like happened to carry something like this. "Betty, … pardon me for asking, but why—?"

"Father took part in a citizen's arrest, garnered quite a bit of praise." Quite a straight-forward explanation, especially given the current situation. "This was a token of gratitude from the law enforcement agency. Tonight, however, this is just to hold you back from doing something you might regret."

Ash was willing to roll along once the explanation came through. "You seem like you know what you're doing... I don't have to call you ' _maîtresse_ ', do I?"

Elisabeth sighed, a little annoyed. "At that point, I'd much rather you call me Betty."

Giving a light push to make Ash lay down and keep his bound hands out of the way, Elisabeth's matters were clearly focused on the lower half of the pseudo-feminine oddity, and what was going on in his trousers. Although they generally weren't too tight on Ash – especially near the end of his pant-legs, which looked somewhat baggy going outwards over his shoes – it was clearly a tad tighter than usual, especially around the phallic bump tucked down his right side.

Given the circumstances around this, Elisabeth looked as if she almost didn't want to go forward with this, but she didn't want it to show on her face. "Tell me," she began to ask, "when you're dressed up like this, does this hurt for you?"

"I've... gotten used to it." It was far from Ash's first time dealing with the situation in his pants – the King of Fighters tournaments of the past have carried many a seductive beauty, it almost felt like a pick-and-choose moment for who he wanted to consider the top babe.

His simple answer was met with little reaction across Elisabeth's face – probably was an unsurprising answer since, with what she's seem about him in recent times, Ash did seem like he could potentially be a womanizer of some sort – as she loosened the studded belt around his pants and began to pull on it by the hem.

It didn't take any more than a couple inches pulling downwards before 'it' sprung loose – a whole eight inches ( _loosely eight and a half on sight_ ) of lightly throbbing, beckoning flesh, pointing to the heavens with a fair gusto that matched 's own share of flamboyance.

It... caught Elisabeth off guard, to say the least. " _Mon dieu_..." She quickly glanced away, setting her elbow on the edge of the bed and her hand over her eyes.

On the other side of things, Ash chuckled over Elisabeth's stoicness cracking – it quickly seemed to overshadow whatever potential awkwardness he would've felt from the general situation of having his member exposed to another. "Come on, Betty – I have a hard time believing this is the first time you've had to have seen a penis."

Looking back, Elisabeth struggled to hide away the light bloom of blush on her face. "Shut up – I'm doing my damnedest to handle this."

"If that's so, I'm glad your 'damnedest' wasn't to simply stomp my crotch into dust. There was something in me that figured you were a _complete_ prude in the face of all this."

"Sometimes the best way to dismantle a situation is to handle it directly." As she shifted her body, kneeling at the edge of the bed, and then shifted Ash's to bring his member closer. "You may not like it, but this is an example of it."

Ash was quick to admit against it, however. "This doesn't seem like something I'd hate..."

Elisabeth responded, "If that's so, then be wary of what you might expect out of this. This isn't a game – this is endurance." For a good moment, her hands only lingered around the member without even as much as grazing a finger on it – as if she seemed reluctant to. She wasn't wrong in saying how 'unbecoming' it would be of them to be in this type of situation.

Eventually, she gave in, and started to take the cock into her left hand with a firm grasp – a simple up-and-down to start this off, nice and easy...

Ash kept his breathing under wraps – somehow, Elisabeth's serious nature could even be felt within her hands by how she handled the cock, and it was already feeling tough to let it all happen without the possibility of busting pure white in minutes. Within the first half-minute, he had already let out a shivery moan that was brief but noticeable to Elisabeth, who glared up for a moment before continuing to focus on the task at hand.

After a minute, Elisabeth adjusted her movements and brought in the other hand to add a bit more strength to her hold; she was handling and tugging with both hands now, and within the first three minutes of this, Ash's stiffness was already starting to form a tiny streamline of pre-cum.

Ash himself was showing some very recognizable signs of enjoyment all the while – eyes closed, cheeks blushing beet-red, a mouth-closed smile slowly reaching from ear to ear, and his legs wriggled freely with the only thing stopping him from shifting all around the bed being the hands wrapped solidly around his cock.

Ash's vocal noises ranged wildly between moans and giggles, sometimes hanging in the in-between. "Hnng—heh-heh-heh~ _merde_ , that's good."

He was already starting to feel something pooling and preparing to rise, and he was all too willing to let it course through to the surface.

That was, until the shafting of his cock stopped completely, and all that remained was the tight squeeze of Elisabeth's hands in him. The smile retreated for the moment as a light compact pain blended with the pleasure that remained, and as he looked down, he saw even less amusement on her face at this point.

Elisabeth briefly surveyed the progress thus far, "Only five minutes and it seems like you're reaching the bursting point. I won't sugarcoat it for you, that's far from optimal... but not surprising."

Ash's tone slightly soured from impatience. "Sorry if I can't help myself when I'm being pleasured by a hot _beauté_."

Elisabeth then said, "Whether it be from me, or from anyone else, you probably couldn't handle anything faster... or _can_ you?"

Suddenly, the shafting movement of her hands on his cock continued, at a somewhat faster rate. A significantly more audible squelching accompanied the rhythm at this point, as the pre-cum started to spread and glisten across Ash's whole member.

Within the next minute...

"Oh god—nng, god, I'm gonna—!"

Then Elisabeth completely let go of her grasp on Ash's cock, leaving it to twitch erratically in anticipation to something that wouldn't come. Ash's grunts briefly grew sour as the realization of the handler letting go set in quickly.

Despite leaving no satisfaction at the door for the other, Elisabeth seemed a little bit intrigued herself – even if it was to the disappointment of the other. "Just as I thought."

Ash was left laid and breathing for a moment with no active touch on him. "So that's how it's going to go down, huh?"

"Guess there's no needing to admit your feelings _verbally_." Elisabeth got off her knees and back to standing, looming over the young man laying flat on the bed before her at a slight more higher line of sight. "Your penis is doing well being honest _for_ you."

"You're not just going to let me off like that, are you, Betty?" Ash asked. "It's not like I could handle it myself with what you have on me." True, he _was_ cuffed and unable to reach himself...

"Hmph. I'm only getting started." As she responded, brought a leg up, and the toe end of her high heel settled itself in a position that started pressing against Ash's cock to the point where it was starting to lay against his stomach. "Just willing to put you through a little bit of hell – since I'm such a 'tease' as you said."

Ash chuckled a little sheepishly, fighting back a brief moan meanwhile, "I might've been joking in the heat of the battle. Desperation does wonders on a man's psyche..."

"Desperation can get you killed." The pressure of Elisabeth's foot against Ash's cock intensified by about ten percent. "You wouldn't be willing to die if the situation carries the risk, would you?"

"Well... if there was no other choice—a _ghnn~_!"

The intense pressure on Elisabeth's sole amped to roughly thirty percent. " _Wrong answer._ " She probably wouldn't hesitate to try and press down on the young man's cock until it was flat as a pancake, if she wanted to. Certainly would set him straight about getting hard in her line of sight... even if it was a bit extreme.

It only got better/worse for Ash ( _the mileage was mildly inconsistent within his mind given where Betty was standing on him_ ) as Elisabeth started twisting and shifting her foot around his penis with what was a roughness that could _almost_ be on par with a sheet of sandpaper. Ash's pelvis swiveled slightly as a wordless indication to his struggle, although it could've meant something else as his blushing face and cuffed hands pressed against his quivering mouth may have indicated _something else_.

Elisabeth looked down at the flame-bearer with a minor sneer of disgust across her face as she saw him struggle in his forcibly submissive position. It was incredibly hard to tell if her expression was artificial to hide true feelings or not – the noblewoman was an expert at carrying a poker face.

The foot-grinding continued for more than a minute longer before Elisabeth finally let free the cock of the red-clad enigma from under her sole – an audible sigh of relief was let loose from Ash's lips, in the middle of some slight panting as his erection pulsed slightly. Doubtful that he was going to acknowledge anything in regards to that, as Elisabeth probably would've turned that upon him in some way to try and make him seem consistently weak under her dominance.

Well, it wouldn't have been _all_ that wrong between them, especially in this moment.

As she climbed down from the bed, Elisabeth recognized a fade of red on the back-end of Ash's shaft where she stood on it. "Don't ask me to kiss that and make it better."

"Wasn't planning on it," Ash responded with a slightly pained tone.

The tip of Elisabeth's riding crop was leaned against Ash's cock with a hint of intrigue, as she saw a slight increase in pre-cum emerging from the tip, dripping around to join the initial amount that was spread across the rest of his shaft and a bit of the clothing around it earlier.

To her, it felt like the two of them had been starting to find an impasse. "Ech... hard to figure out what the hell to do with you next. With each passing moment, it seems like you inch closer, much faster, to a climax that may never come."

Ash started to sit up... "Not quite satisfied, are you, Betty?" He didn't sound very negative in asking that – in fact, he seemed _very_ intrigued by the circumstances, given his situation at the moment. "Guess that puts us on even ground."

At this point, the comment wouldn't be out of the ballpark in a certain way, if Ash was just trying to find a way to taunt Elisabeth as a retort out of his first-time experience of being... _left on edge_ like this.

On the other hand, Elisabeth certainly seemed to think this way, as she started to look a little scorned by the comment. "Please – if you think we're at 'even ground' on _anything_ regarding this, you should reconsider your words."

Her left arm suddenly went around, as she draped it around the back of Ash's head, with her hand shielding around his mouth. Suddenly, with a bit of pull inwards, she held him closer than before to her chest, his face planted right underneath

All the while, Elisabeth's other hand grappled onto Ash's erection, and started jerking on him with significantly more aggression and speed than before. It wasn't a confident, almost massaging, examination like the first go around, it was straight up a power wank with built-up frustration being the fuel to her mighty hand.

It took less than a minute for Ash to get a grasp onto his pre-orgasmic state again, but at point where he just grazed the limit he could handle, Elisabeth's hand stopped in its rhythm. Once again, his cock throbbed for a merciful expunge of the fluids from his nether system, but nothing surfaced, and it wiggled with increasing frustration.

Spending the next minute waiting for the intense throbbing, among other feelings in Ash's cock, to subside temporarily, Elisabeth continued the aggressive strokes on it, keeping up the same rhythm from the last time. Surprisingly, this time around, he managed to last some seconds longer before the urge to splurge his load began to rise back up again – but once again, Elisabeth completely sealed him off from the satisfaction that, by this moment, it was presumable he thought he absolutely deserved in the end of all this.

"Endure, Ash," she said to him. "It's for your own good."

The stop-start of it all wound up in a sort of routine that Elisabeth managed to accurately time, allowing her to continue to build the frustration in Ash's loins for about ten minutes longer. If there was even an idea of thought about what could be considered the most unusual, yet most cruel, type of psychological torture, this would certainly be up there.

Meanwhile, something else other than his struggling load, also started to rise up within Crimson without _fully_ surfacing – sparks of green within his bound hands, of a flame that tried desperately to get out, even if it risked disrupting the moment.

This was not something unnoticed by Elisabeth, though, as she saw the tiny sparks of what could've been a burst of Ash's emerald flames attempt to lash against what remained unburnt of her shirt.

Having just brought Ash's cock to the brink for the umpteenth time, she had fully unhanded it from her grasp. "Your flames... they're struggling to break free, in the middle of all of this. Has your resolve splintered?"

Given how he was at this point, after what felt like an hour despite only being nearly half of one, Ash's breath slowly grew more labored, and his face was reddened, not to mention carrying patches of wetness across it – from sweat or tears, it was debatable to why.

As for answering the important question regarding his 'resolve'. "No. _Not at all._ " His 'smile' and his weary voice said otherwise. It clearly had cracked in some manner.

It didn't exactly fool Lady Blanctorche either. "Hmph. I don't believe you." She handled Ash's glistening erection with an initial enforcing squeeze, but she didn't go forward with the strokes immediately, only maintaining the squeezing force. "Maybe I need to try harder."

As soon as he felt the hard squeeze, Ash brought the back of his head against the bed, attempting to sink himself deeper within its cushioning. There was a point where he was willing to give in, and he was probably a mile past it at this point. "Nngh... _Elisabeth_ , just... let me cum... _please_..."

As soon as his plea hit her ears, Elisabeth's grip slightly weakened; Ash would rarely ever call her by her real name unless he was in an extreme enough state of desperation, seriousness, etc. In the few times where even if they had only slightly interacted between then and back when they were younger, she knew he wasn't quite easy to cut down mentally. It... almost felt like a trigger went off in her mind that demanded she feel a bit more.

Ultimately, she completely separated her hand from around Ash's penis, leaving him only slightly throbbing. Her general sternness had started to crack apart as well, as she started to show a little bit of sympathy through her expression.

She looked down at him. "Ash... tell me, and please be honest... do you understand now, how much one can handle with themselves with things such as this?"

There was a sense of relief flushing lightly across Ash's face. "There's just so much one can take before they break... I guess I was the unlucky one today..."

It was very melancholic for Elisabeth to see Ash in a state of feeling a shade of mercy – it was nothing like she had seen since back when they lived together those years ago... back when... it didn't really matter, it was all in the past for them.

After a moment to herself and her thoughts, Elisabeth sighed as she knew what she had to do – but it wasn't because she had to finally give the satisfaction at some point, but _how_ she had decided to go ahead with it...

With a careful lift, Elisabeth grabbed onto Ash's legs and adjusted to bring them around her waist, with intention to not only bring herself closer to his cock, but to bring that cock closer to... well, let's just say that the flames that exposed a good part of her were proving to be more useful for this moment than expected.

It was impossible for to _not_ notice the adjustments being made in the position between them. "Uh... Betty?"

She retorted with a hint of joking snide. "Ash, don't play dumb – this is what you _really_ wanted out of this, right?

The sleek glaze of what was minutes of built-up pre-cum on Ash's cock happened to make a perfect lubricant to help it slide right into the crevice in between Elisabeth's breasts. She was certainly going straight ahead to business, to say the least, as she immediately started to slide herself up and down as the cock maintained its position within her cleavage.

It was surprising that Ash didn't bust then and there – but not _as_ surprising given his cock was left dormant without much in terms of stroking for much longer than in the past few minutes. Especially for someone he considered more as a friend than as a lover, it was damn near perfect how well it looked and felt to have himself like this. The plumpness and the bounce of her D-cup beauties as she set the motions, the way she pressed against the outer sides of herself to lock his cock within the in-between with no intention of letting go, the tightness all around as a result of the above combination, it was certainly a holy sight for him.

His moans said more than enough about how all the struggle his member could take, might as well have been worth it. "Ohhh... _c'est beau_..." The smile of gratification was a return to form from what he was moments before. To him, this was pretty much a reward to lasting as long as he did.

Elisabeth was quite impressed herself. "Finally holding your own with yourself, huh?"

Ash chuckled with a shuddery undertone, keeping his still-cuffed hands over his head. "H-h-h-heh-heh... probably not for long."

Elisabeth shifted herself to get closer in a face-to-face while attempting to maintain the breast-fucking rhythm. "Might want to prepare yourself, then." She was starting to pin Ash's shoulders against the bedding underneath with how they were positioned together.

As the grateful climax drew near, Ash attempted to intensify the motions of his cock laying snug within Elisabeth's goods, with a bit of gyration, lightly thrusting his pelvis upwards as if to get more of a feeling of thrusting into a fine piece of lady meat; it seemed like it was helping out a fair bit, as he rewarded himself a couple more choice moans.

From the anticipating throbs of his cock, the load he had built up on half an hour of its tease and denial of release, was starting to crawl within the vicinity of eventual eruption. It was about the right time for him to give the quick warning before said eruption would happen... " _Je suis proche_ , Betty..."

Elisabeth smiled down, confident with her truly 'unbecoming' capabilities at this moment. " _Prêt à éjaculer pour moi?_ "

It was always an interesting experience between them to speak within their home language – as they had generally grown accustomed to others – but in this situation, for Ash, it was kinda hot to hear the noblewoman respond as such.

So much so that he was right on the brink as his legs wrapped tightly around the back of Elisabeth, and she held on to him even tighter. "Ahh~hah~! I'm gonna _aahh_ ~!"

The release had never been sweeter than now – passing right through into the open with near-silent spurts, Ash started to unleash wet blasts of his cum, eyes closed shut as he felt the strain to burst the liquid all the way out of his system...

...and within milliseconds later, he started feeling splatters of wetness directly hit him in the face.

Oh. Oh dear.

If there was one thing that could be considered a weakness for Ash Crimson in this kind of state, it would be that his mind would get too clouded to see how _everything_ was set up in the positioning. Somehow, in the way that Elisabeth positioned herself alongside him, Ash's cock, although still snug within Betty's tits, was aimed _directly_ at himself.

The end result: he was unintentionally giving himself a facial, and what a facial it was – the orgasm-denial that had been going on for the past half-hour had really built up a load on him, to the point where he fired at least twenty globs of thick white 'goodness' ( _unsure in terms of this moment specifically_ ) that hit him all over his face, from his eyes ( _mainly the one eye uncovered by his hairdo_ ) to even getting within his mouth in spaces. Although the release was completely worth the penile 'torture', having to taste it, and to experience it on himself to begin with, was not in Ash's cards.

As for the other side of the cumshot, the one mostly in witness, Elisabeth looked to oddly be enjoying it – not necessarily because the Blanctorche beauty found fondness in the hotness or cuteness of the situation, but because it seemed like she had Ash's cock propel against him on purpose, for some sort of odd bite-back in the end of all of this.

She certainly proved further that idea once Ash's minute-long spermfest subsided; as she looked down at him, his face caked in the white stuff, she giggled at the sight and said, "Guess you _weren't_ prepared for that."

It was hard to see what expression had taken upon Ash's face under all the cum, and he was almost unable to speak due to how exhausted he must've felt, but his retort seemed clearly unamused. "You... you did that on purpose..."

Elisabeth responded with words that technically weren't her own. "Well, 'I managed to surprise you, didn't I?'"

She knew what she was saying, and how she said it, and, with no relation to the situation intended, it was the icing on the cake.

* * *

After all was said and done, Ash spent almost an hour washing his face and hair to get all the cum off of him – even with it all physically out of his system, the taste of it, and experiencing it head-on, was never going to escape him no matter how hard he tried to forget. He could still be thankful regardless that Elisabeth allowed him her bathroom to help deal with that as soon as possible.

Speaking of, as he left the bathroom with a towel brushing against his hair, he almost immediately took notice to her approaching him, having been waiting a couple feet from the door, in the hall. She seemed fairly calm in how she composed herself towards him, although maybe a _slight_ remorseful considering... what happened in the bedroom...

"Ash... I just want to let you know... regarding what had gone down today, it's for the best that we don't consider too much of it in our minds for anything other than to reflect.

Ash found nothing wrong in that. "Seems like a good idea; if I were you, I'd tend to let it drift past me, too."

"I wouldn't want it to distract us from the task at hand."

"...The task at hand?"

"The _mission_ , Ash," Elisabeth reminded.

His memory jogged slightly as he remembered; wasn't surprising that he momentarily forgot about the discussions when he initially arrived, considering he was more focused on getting all that cum off of him. "Oh yeah; the evil cult, the 'Distant Land', et cetera..." He chuckled the forgetfulness off. " _Désolé_ , Betty, I—"

"It's quite alright," Elisabeth assured. Onto another subject – one hinted mainly by the envelope she held "As for the tournament, whether you're worthy or not... your skill as a fighter, you've at least shown you can keep up with another, even if you haven't shown a true superiority yet."

Ash shrugged. "I was honestly only getting started with what I could do – the most we did, was in that bedroom..."

Elisabeth found it relatively easy ( _and surprisingly so_ ) to avoid blushing over the still-fresh memory. "Again, better off not paying mind to that... I'll think about it – as the tournament looms closer, I might have to re-evaluate your resolve. Besides that, you've shown endurance in more ways than one, though... there's something I can respect from that."

"Aww, Betty – you _do_ trust me~" Ash quickly roped Elisabeth into a slightly awkward feeling hug, mainly based on his still-wet hair brushing against her face. Besides that, a friendly embrace between the two.

"For now, at least. I just hope you don't do something stupid when we get started on our plans."

Ash let go of the hug before long. "I can't hold a promise that I won't, but I'll do what I can." He started to make his way out at this point. " _Au revoir_ , Betty. Hoping everything turns out for the best for us, the whole tournament business and all..."

looked on with a sense of confidence that things will be dealt with, with pride and justice, in the end of all of this. Just like all the other tournaments, the scum underneath the foundation had to be scoped out and it seemed like she and Ash were among a certain few who could be able to help stop evil this time.

It was mostly dependent on her, him and the...

...envelope...?

She didn't notice it at first, but she realized something was off when she didn't feel that envelope on her person. It was as if it disappeared, or...

"Oh, _un de plus_ , Betty..."

Elisabeth heard 's voice again, at the half-opened doors to her home. His arm was the only part that was shown to her line of sight in between the doors – and that invitation envelope was one of two things that rang within her mind at the moment, with the other being what he said next. "Try to remember to focus, okay?"

His slightly mischievous chuckle was the last she heard of him before the doors closed, leaving her with a mix of emotions circling her mind – a touch of anger, a handful of utter confusion and surprise, and a smidgen of something within her that was feeling impressed that Ash managed to sneak the invitation right into his own hands without her noticing. Regardless of all that, one thing was certain for her:

She hoped he knew what he was doing.


End file.
